Colorado Woman Who Cut Baby From Womb Won’t Face Murder Charges

A 34-year-old Colorado woman, accused of a cutting a 7-month-old baby from a mother’s body, will not be charged with murder, the Boulder County Colorado District Attorney’s office said late Thursday, according to CBS News.

It’s unclear what charges Dynel Lane will actually face, the report notes, but Boulder County District Attorney Stanley Garnett said after the gruesome March 18 attack that the state’s laws make it hard to charge individuals with murder for the death of a fetus. The mother Michelle Watkins, 26, survived the attack and left the hospital this week.

Wilkins was reportedly lured to Lane’s home through an ad on Craigslist selling baby clothes, investigators say. Once inside, Lane stabbed Wilkins and removed the child, police say.

Lane had told her family she was pregnant, and when her husband came home early from work to meet her for a prenatal appointment, he found the infant in a bathtub, authorities said. Lane said she had a miscarriage, and he took them to the hospital, where the baby was pronounced dead…

Even though the baby girl died, legal experts say the case is complicated by the fact that Colorado is one of 12 states that do not have a fetal homicide law. State lawmakers in 2013 voted down such a measure over fears it would interfere with abortion rights, and voters overwhelmingly agreed when they rejected a similar ballot measure in 2014.

Advocates say the attack shows the need for a fetal homicide law.

Lane, who faces a litany of other charges, is reportedly due to appear in court Friday, when results of an autopsy performed on the baby are also scheduled to be released.